National Party - Response to policy request Contributing to an Election 2008 feature in Kiwi Parent

By John Key MP

National backs families and we back parents. Parents play an absolutely critical role in the development of their children, and they are the glue that binds our communities together.

We believe that every government agency should respect the role that responsible parents play. They should respect parents’ views about what’s best for their children. And they should give responsible parents more say over how services are provided to their children and their families.

Our family policies will reinforce this philosophy and will be a central part of our election platform. We will be making significant announcements in this area as we draw closer to the election.

Parenting Environment - Taking into account housing affordability, the rising cost of food and high rates of inflation, what is your party's view on creating an environment where mothers and fathers can parent effectively?

Parenting is hugely rewarding but it’s hard work. It’s made even harder when economic circumstances are as challenging as they are at the moment. A growing number of Kiwi families are battling ever-bigger grocery bills, some of the highest interest rates in the world, sky-high petrol prices, and longer hours at work for the same amount of pay.

National will support Kiwi families with policies designed to ease the pressure on their household budgets.

- We will have an ongoing programme of personal tax cuts to ensure family incomes better reflect the cost of living.

- We will take the pressure off interest rates caused by inflationary government spending.

- We will use your taxes carefully and focus government spending on priority frontline services like health and education.

- We will address housing affordability problems with a series of policies designed to ensure that if you work hard and save hard, a home of your own is within reach.

Action Plan for Women - What are your views on the Action Plan for Women and how does your party value and respect women's ambitions and aspirations, not only in the workforce?

National broadly supports the Action Plan for Women. We want women from every walk of life to make the most of their opportunities and achieve their aspirations. We support women achieving independence, equality, and freedom from discrimination. We value women’s huge contribution to our communities, our culture, our workplaces, and our economy. We respect the essential role women play in raising and providing for their children and their families.

Family violence - What will your party do to ensure facilities and resources are available for families to help those at risk free themselves from violence?

National will tackle family violence by focusing government spending on frontline services, by introducing better law and order policies, and by turbocharging community groups that support vulnerable families.

1. Focusing on frontline services

National is committed to capping the number of bureaucrats in the state service and focusing government spending on frontline services. This will mean that government agencies like the Police, CYF and Social Development have more resources on the ground to deal with family violence and its effects.

2. Better law and order policies

These include:

- More effective policing. National will give Police the power to issue on-the-spot protection orders that last for a specific period. This will help protect families from violent family members by providing an immediate response to a violent domestic situation.

- Tougher sentencing. National will ensure courts can hand down tougher sentences for violent domestic crime, particularly for assaults on and cruelty against children.

- Reducing the court backlog. National will reduce the backlog in our courts and make sure that justice is delivered more promptly for victims of crime.

- Strengthening the bail laws. National will amend the Bail Act to get tough on bail violations and provide greater protection for victims.

3. Turbocharging community groups

Community groups make a huge difference in helping families deal with domestic violence. National has a series of policies for turbocharging community groups, including those that help vulnerable families. These policies include increasing tax rebates for charitable donations and full-cost funding.

Families Commission - What value do you place on the role of the Families Commission in New Zealand? What is your party's intentions towards the Families Commission, do you intend to keep it, disband it, or change its current form?

National believes that the Families Commission should focus on supporting everyday parents. We are not convinced that all of their current work, including advertising campaigns worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, are necessarily of practical help to mums and dads.

Education - What value do you place on early childhood education versus the role of the parent in raising their child and what policies does your party make in supporting and resourcing children who learn differently?

National values high-quality, well-funded early childhood education services. However, we know that nothing can replace the love and care that parents give to their children. We believe that early childhood education services should reinforce and support parental care rather than try to replace it. We will be releasing our early childhood policies soon.

National believes that all children, regardless of how they learn, should have access to high-quality education, whether at an early childhood centre, at school, or beyond. Our special education policy, which we will announce in the coming months, will reflect that principle.

Breastfeeding - How does your party plan to encourage and better support breastfeeding women?

The first few weeks and months of a baby’s life are absolutely critical. Under Labour, mothers aren’t getting enough support in this crucial period. National is developing policies to improve support for infants and their mothers, and we will announce these soon.

Health - Dollars invested in early intervention and primary health care are marked to deliver outcomes. What policies does your party have to ensure a high standard of health care is available for all New Zealand families?

National has a number of ideas for improving family healthcare, including:

- Establishing Integrated Family Health Centres to provide primary care that is more personalised and more convenient.

- Reducing waiting in our hospitals by separating emergency care from elective surgery, and letting GPs perform a wider range of minor surgery.

- Cutting bureaucracy and giving doctors, nurses, and other health professionals more say in our health system.

- Training more doctors and using financial incentives to keep them here.

- Continuing subsidies for cheaper GP visits.

We will announce more health policies before the election.

Maternity care - Many parts of New Zealand struggle to cope with inadequate birthing facilities, crowded delivery suites, too few midwives and stretched neonatal facilities. How do you plan to address this shortage?

Maternity care is one of the most critical services in our healthcare system and it is in crisis. There is a massive shortage of midwives and a huge decline in GP obstetricians. Worst of all, Labour has known about the growing problems in maternity care for eight years and has done nothing to fix them. National is determined to restore quality maternity care and choice for women, and our maternity services policy will spell out our plan for achieving this.

Well Child services - Parents Centres believe the Well Child starts with Well Parents. What is your party's view on this philosophy and what thinking do you have around extending delivery of Well Child services to encompass the Well Parent pre birth and conception?

The health of prospective mothers has a big impact on the health of newborns. National is committed to improving care for mothers before and during pregnancy and after birth. One of our ideas for achieving this is to introduce Family Health Centres to provide care that is more personalised and more convenient. Our health policies will be designed to support the health and wellbeing of all family members.

Well parents also requires that the health and behaviours of both parents be recognised as important for child health. National supports Parents as First Teachers, HIPPY, Early Start and Family Start (programmes established and funded in the 1990s).